Interesting question. The law treats spent brass the same as loaded ammo. The law requires the ammo to be locked up.
If a prosecutor wanted to jam you up, he might argue you were transferring the ammo to an unlicensed person (garbage collector).

The fact we are having this lame discussion illustrates how ridiculous this state is.

I just realized. Yeah. Massachusetts. You really do suck. I mean, even more than I thought. Because CockPitBob is right. The fact that the question has to be asked shows how insane the state is.

I pick up my brass at my range and sometimes brass that other people have left. Sometimes I mistakenly pick up .380 instead of 9mm. When that happens at some point in the reloading process I find it and I THROW IT IN THE TRASH CAN that's sitting there by my reloading bench without giving it a second thought. When I pick up a piece of brass that's worn out, it goes in the trash. Because GEORGIA. Hell, even in CONNECTICUT we don't worry about this crap.

I just realized. Yeah. Massachusetts. You really do suck. I mean, even more than I thought. Because CockPitBob is right. The fact that the question has to be asked shows how insane the state is.

I pick up my brass at my range and sometimes brass that other people have left. Sometimes I mistakenly pick up .380 instead of 9mm. When that happens at some point in the reloading process I find it and I THROW IT IN THE TRASH CAN that's sitting there by my reloading bench without giving it a second thought. When I pick up a piece of brass that's worn out, it goes in the trash. Because GEORGIA. Hell, even in CONNECTICUT we don't worry about this crap.

you should see the stuff that i trash from my reloading room. i just make sure there's nothing in the hefty that id's me. nothing dangerous of course but if that bag bursts at the curb my neighbors will think they live next door to a sleeper cell.

can't you sell it? Used to be a place in Boston near the city hospital that took in all kinds of metals for recycle. They'd give pennies for a pound but they used to take it. Of course that was before ammunition components were illegal.

your trash is burned at places like wheelabrator and they harvest metals (precious and non) from the ash and recycle it. it's an extremely lucrative business even though it would seem not so much.

the company is building a refining factory in the US soon and should really streamline the process. as of right now all the ash is 'composted' to break it down even more and then shipped overseas to be separated and refined/recycled.

there is a sorting machine in the shrewsbury location on route 20 that can filter down to pieces of metal smaller than a grain of sand based on density...i'll give you a wild guess what they're harvesting there.

Don't know, but I have a hundred or so spent pistol cartridges rolling around the back of my pickup truck from a spilled box I had filled a year ago.
They rolled all over the place. Under my tool box, mixed up in leaves, found a bunch of .45's along the tailgate gap. .40's and 9mm are smaller.
I can hear them go "tink" from time to time, mostly on corners.

In my town they practically sift through the trash before taking it, so I get where your concern might be coming from. They've actually removed stuff and thrown it on to the curb next to the empty barrel.

Throw it all into ziploc bags then throw those into trash bags a few at a time. No one can see them, so it never happened.

Of course, don't do anything stupid like throw junk mail with your name on it into the trash bag with it.

You are confusing the Fire Code (a regulation) which mandates ammo and powder being locked up, but does not apply to brass or bullets and MGL, which treats ammo components the same as ammo, where possession is concerned.

Don't know, but I have a hundred or so spent pistol cartridges rolling around the back of my pickup truck from a spilled box I had filled a year ago.
They rolled all over the place. Under my tool box, mixed up in leaves, found a bunch of .45's along the tailgate gap. .40's and 9mm are smaller.
I can hear them go "tink" from time to time, mostly on corners.

This reminds me. I need to get my kids to get their FIDs. I can just see one being pulled over for speeding and a cop who is constipated and just had a fight with his wife sees a piece of brass rolling around the back seat floor.

This is a funny thread. With that said my defective brass/cases go straight to the regular garbage. I do not even give it a second thought.

When my son was young we used to shoot milk containers and plastic bottles together. One day he happened to be outside with me while I was bringing the recycling out to the curb. He said "Dad, you cannot put those out like that. They have OBVIOUS bullet holes in them." Too funny. I said "Oh well. The guy picking it up will just need to get over it." LOL

never had a problem tossing my junk brass. like mentioned above tho, if i've deemed it un-reloadable, i hit it with pliers to make sure no one else has it explode in the wrong direction (or when i invariably drop one and it lands in the "primer catch basin" aka trash can under the press, i don't grab the wrong one.)

I just realized. Yeah. Massachusetts. You really do suck. I mean, even more than I thought. Because CockPitBob is right. The fact that the question has to be asked shows how insane the state is.

I pick up my brass at my range and sometimes brass that other people have left. Sometimes I mistakenly pick up .380 instead of 9mm. When that happens at some point in the reloading process I find it and I THROW IT IN THE TRASH CAN that's sitting there by my reloading bench without giving it a second thought. When I pick up a piece of brass that's worn out, it goes in the trash. Because GEORGIA. Hell, even in CONNECTICUT we don't worry about this crap.

Instructor

This reminds me. I need to get my kids to get their FIDs. I can just see one being pulled over for speeding and a cop who is constipated and just had a fight with his wife sees a piece of brass rolling around the back seat floor.

IIRC, if you remove the primer from the cases, it won't matter even in the PRM. If it's not a caliber you're setup to reload, then a hand decapper would be the way to go there. Yes, it's more work, but it should be no issue. Otherwise, drilling another hole, or otherwise demilling the cases would make them safe.

IIRC, if you remove the primer from the cases, it won't matter even in the PRM. If it's not a caliber you're setup to reload, then a hand decapper would be the way to go there. Yes, it's more work, but it should be no issue. Otherwise, drilling another hole, or otherwise demilling the cases would make them safe.

I beg to differ. I believe the words in the law say "components" and don't even make any distinction about condition. One kid was arrested for something and the popo were looking into adding an ammo without FID charge for his dummy cartridge key ring. I never heard if it stuck.

I beg to differ. I believe the words in the law say "components" and don't even make any distinction about condition. One kid was arrested for something and the popo were looking into adding an ammo without FID charge for his dummy cartridge key ring. I never heard if it stuck.

I have talked with others about buying cases from someone in the PRM. It's only worth even trying (in person) if they've been deprimed. NOT going to buy any that even have spent primers in them. One guy wanted a stupid amount to ship them, and didn't seem willing to meet in NH (even though he was going into it and we could have met). For me, it was more a matter of if something happened and the popo saw them, I could get into trouble... So, not worth the pain.

If they are all brass cases and you have some room to store them, just throw them into a 5 gal bucket and bring to a recycler when full. I had about 60 lbs worth that I didn't want to take with me when I moved from MA and got about $110 if I remember correctly.